Federal Communications Commission FCC 07-144 Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Amendment of Service and Eligibility Rules for ) MB Docket No. 07-172 FM Broadcast Translator Stations ) RM-11338 ) ) ) ) ) NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE MAKING Adopted: August 7, 2007 Released: August 15, 2007 Comment Date: [60 days after date of publication in the Federal Register] Reply Comment Date: [90 days after date of publication in the Federal Register] By the Commission: I. INTRODUCTION 1. On July 14, 2006, the National Association of Broadcasters (“NAB”) filed a Petition for Rulemaking proposing that the Commission amend its rules to allow AM broadcast stations to operate FM translator stations.1 The NAB Petition proposed that AM stations be permitted to license and/or use FM translator stations to retransmit their AM service as a fill-in service. Specifically, the NAB proposed that AM stations be allowed to use FM translator stations to rebroadcast the AM signal, provided that no portion of the 60 dBu contour of any such FM translator station extends beyond the smaller of: (a) a 25- mile radius from the AM transmitter site; or (b) the 2 mV/m daytime contour of the AM station. We received over 500 comments on the NAB Petition, with the overwhelming majority supporting the proposal. With this Notice of Proposed Rule Making (“NPRM”), we propose rules permitting the use of FM translators by AM stations and examine the issues related to such a rule change, including the issue of program origination at night over FM translators by AM daytime-only stations. II. BACKGROUND 2. For decades, AM radio service has been an integral part of American life. In 1991, the Commission observed: AM radio was this country’s first national medium of electronic mass communications and, for more than half a century, its contribution to daily life in America was unquestioned. The AM service was a unifying force throughout the country, providing a wealth of news, information, entertainment, education, and political dialogue readily accessible to 1 “Petition for Rulemaking of the National Association of Broadcasters,” RM-11338, filed on July 14, 2006 (the “NAB Petition”). We solicited comments and reply comments on the NAB Petition by public notice. See Public Notice, Report No. 2782 (rel. July 25, 2006). See Sections 1.4 and 1.405 of the Commission’s Rules (the “Rules”), 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.4, 1.405. Federal Communications Commission FCC 07-144 virtually all Americans. In the process, it revolutionized the fabric of our daily lives, our dialogue and our democracy.2 3. However, as we have recognized, the AM band’s viability has been threatened by a well- documented shift of AM listeners to newer mass media services that offer higher technical quality and superior audio fidelity.3 Although the Commission has taken various steps to revitalize the AM band,4 there are inherent technical limitations that present challenges for which there is no easy solution. For example, the propagation characteristics of the AM band cause substantially increased interference among AM broadcasts at night. Accordingly, during nighttime hours, many AM stations are required to reduce their operating power substantially (and/or directionalize their signals), thereby eliminating service to certain swaths of their audience, while others (daytime-only stations) are prohibited from broadcasting at night.5 This situation will be worse as of this year, when recent actions by Congress to extend Daylight Savings Time (“DST”) became effective.6 DST began three weeks earlier, starting on the second Sunday of March 2007, and will end one week later, starting on the first Sunday in November 2007. As a result, many AM facilities, and particularly daytime-only stations, will either completely lose an hour of early morning drive-time programming or be forced to operate at very low power during that important period of the broadcast day. 4. The AM band’s technical problems involve more than just this nighttime service issue. During all hours of operations, increasing electromagnetic interference to AM transmissions emanates from power lines, electronics equipment such as computers and televisions, fluorescent and neon lighting and dimmers used for incandescent lighting, electric motors, traffic signal sensors, RF from cable lines and equipment, and certain kinds of medical equipment. In addition, some commenters have argued that the introduction of in-band, on-channel (“IBOC”) digital radio broadcast transmissions will create a new factor of interference to AM listeners, particularly to those tuned to low power AM stations that operate on channels adjacent to those of 50 kW stations which have initiated IBOC operations.7 5. Despite these difficulties, AM radio remains an important component of the mass media landscape and a vital provider of local broadcast service, offering programming specifically oriented to treat the specific needs and problems of the members of their audiences, in a manner consistent with the “public interest, convenience, and necessity.”8 As the Commission has previously stated, AM often offers the only radio service to listeners in a variety of circumstances, particularly those living in and traveling through rural areas.9 AM radio stations commonly provide unique, community-responsive formats to distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive media market. All-news/talk, all-sports, foreign language, and religious programming formats are common on the AM band, as are discussions of local news, politics and public affairs, traffic announcements and coverage of community events such as high school athletic events. In fact, 91.5% of all news/talk formats are over stations operating in the AM 2 Review of the Technical Assignment Criteria for the AM Broadcast Service, Report and Order, 6 FCC Rcd 6273, 6274-5 (1991), recon. granted in part and denied in part, 8 FCC Rcd 3250 (1993) (“Expanded Band R&O”). 3 Id., 6 FCC Rcd at 6275. 4 Id., 6 FCC Rcd at 6275-76. 5 See NAB Petition at 3-4 (some stations lose 80-95% of their coverage area to protect clear channel AM stations often located hundreds of miles away). Some daytime-only stations are permitted to operate during sunrise and sunset hours at extremely low power levels. 6 See Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-58. 7 See “Comments of Baraboo Broadcasting Corporation” at 1-3; “Comments of Romar Communications Inc.” at 5. 8 See 47 U.S.C. § 309(a). 9 See Expanded Band R&O, 6 FCC Rcd at 6276. 2 Federal Communications Commission FCC 07-144 band.10 The Commission’s commitment to localism in the broadcast service, including the AM service, is firmly established: “Localism is rooted in Congressional directives to this Commission and has been affirmed as a valid regulatory objective many times by the courts.”11 6. In view of the undisputed importance of the AM service within the media landscape, we have decided to pursue the rule revisions proposed in the NAB Petition as a means to help ensure the continued viability and survival of stations in the service.12 The following sections will describe the current regulatory status of FM translator stations, summarize comments filed in response to the NAB Petition, and seek public comments on the rule revisions proposed herein and the questions raised by those revisions. III. NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE MAKING A. Regulatory Status of FM Translators 7. FM translator stations are low power facilities licensed for the limited purpose of retransmitting the signals of either an FM radio station or another FM translator station.13 FM translators were first authorized in 1970 to provide secondary FM service to areas and populations that are unable to receive satisfactory service due to distance or intervening terrain obstacles.14 To ensure that FM translator stations serve their intended secondary role, the Commission adopted rules restricting their service, ownership, sources of financial support, and program origination.15 For example, FM translators are limited to a maximum effective radiated power of 250 Watts and may not cause interference to the direct reception by the public of the off-the-air signal of any authorized broadcast station.16 Further, FM 10 See NAB Petition at 2. 11 2002 Biennial Regulatory Review – Review of the Commission’s Broadcast Ownership Rules and Other Rules Adopted Pursuant to Section 202 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 18 FCC Rcd 13620, 13711-47 (2003), aff’d in part and remanded in part, Prometheus Radio Project, et al. v. FCC, 373 F.3d 372 (2004), stay modified on rehearing, No. 03-3388 (3d Cir. Sep. 3, 2004), cert. denied, 73 U.S.L.W. 3466 (U.S. June 13, 2005) (Nos. 04-1020, 04-1033, 04-1045, 04-1168, and 04-1177). 12 A similar, but broader, petition for rule making was filed earlier by the American Community AM Broadcasters Association (“ACAMBA”). See “Petition for Rulemaking of the American Community AM Broadcasters Association,” RM-9419 (filed Aug. 13, 1997). Based on comments filed in that proceeding and in this proceeding, we have decided to consider rule changes pursuant to the NAB Petition. Similarly, we note that another pending rule making petition seeks a rule change to allow FM translators to offer locally-originated programming. See “Petition to Allow FM Translator Licensees to Locally Originate Programming,” RM-11331 (Miller Communications, Inc., et al., filed April 27, 2006). As we note herein, we will explore the issue of program origination on FM translators by AM daytime-only stations during the hours the AM station is not in operation in this proceeding. We will not consider in this proceeding whether a broader rule change involving program origination on FM translators is warranted. See ¶ 19 infra. 13 See 47 C.F.R.